Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MET~iOD AND SYSTF"M fOPC MANAGTNG <>NLINE APPL:LCATIONS
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Field of the Invention
The present invent~_on relates generally to managing and
distributing online applications, and more particularly, to a
method and system to enable the online" rea:3_-time management
and distribution of online appii:.~ationsa
Background of the Invention
A °'desktop" software application is one that a user
purchases in a computer storey or download:: via a global
computer network (e.g, the Internet), and installs or. his or
her own computer or on a local area network ("LAN"'). The
desktop application is loaded into memory from the person's
own computer hard drive or LAN server each time the user
wisees to use the application.
~0 One problem with such desktop application~c is that 'they
quickly become outdated as new versions are written and become
available, As a result, to obtain the lafi:est improvements9
the user must conts.nue to purchase and install upgraded
versions, Another problem is that they c.a.n be expensive to
own, and the cost may not be ystified if one ;.s not a heavy
user of the application.
Te avoid these problems, there is are increasing trend in
the computer industry away from such desktop software
applications toward; what will be referred to here as "online°°
3Q software applications. Arx online software application does
not reside on the user's hard drive or on a LAN server, but
instead resides on a Web server connected to a global "computer
network and accessed via a Web page.. A Web browser such as
Microsoft' s Internet ExplorerT'' or Netscape° s Navigator'~~'N
can
be used to access the Web page. The Web page provides a
button or link, which can be "clicked" to provide access to
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the online application or, in the alternative, the application
can be directly imbedded in the Web page.
One problem with such online software applications is
that they do not inherently contain any means by which the
application owner can manage the application, which resides on
a remote server. For exampleP an online software. appl.icatior~
is designed to perform a particular function, sur_h as run an
e-commerce Web site ;shopping cart) or an online discussion
forum but inherently contains no features to permit the owner
"0 to personalize the application for a particular use or
facilitate, control, monitor and manage access, distribution
or use of the software app-lication in an on"pine environment.
Currently, online applications must be individually customized
and managed for each owner" 'i'hese tasks are normally
performed manually by the owner, manually b y the service
provider or host of the online application on behalf of the
owner, or by the owner through a modification interface
located and maintained on the service provider or host
portal/Web site. The manual modifications noted above are
2Q costly to undertake, while using the modification interface
requires the online application owner to access and logon to
the host or service provider portallWeb site. One other
problem associated with linking the customization and
management of the online application to the host or service
provider Web site is that it inhibits third party sale and
distribution of the online application.
Accordingly, there is a need. to provide an improved
system for managing and controlling sack online: applications
that solves these inherent problems.
summary of The Invention
In view of the foregoing an object of one aspect of the
present invention is to provide a system for managing online
software applications.
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r'~CCOrdl.n~ t0 One aSpeCt Of t1_'le pl"eSent lnV2:'ItlOn glen,
there is provided, a system for managing an online software
application comprising; an or:line user manual providing one or
more suppcrting tools adapted to enable onl:~ne management of
the online software application; and a bundling application
integrally bundling the online user manual with t:he online
software applications
According to ano3~her aspect of the present inventiorA
there is provided a method for amanaging an onlinE: software
application oomprising the steps of using a bund__ing
application to bundle an online user manual w,~th the online
soft;care application, the online user manual providing one or
mere supporting tools adapted t:,~ enable online management of
the online software application.
~5 In further aspects of the invention, t:he user manual
supporting tools may include a ~ersonalizata.on module for
editing and updating t:ne ccnf_iguration parameters of the
online software application, a user statistics module for
recording and. displaying information relating to usage of the
online software application, an owner statistics module for
recording and displaying information relating to usage of the
user manual and bundling application, a user access chanrbel
tools module for settling up user access channels used by a
user of the online software application to gain access to the
online software applicationp an owner access channel tools
module for setting up owner acr_ess channels used by an owner
of the online software application to gain access to Lhe user
manual and bundling application, .G licensinc module for
setting up and managing the terms of use of: the online
software application, the user manual and the bundling
application, or an authentication module for confiawring and
controlling access to the user manual, the bundling
application and/or the online software application.
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In bet another aspect oz the invention the user manual
is adapted to enable the online management of the online
software application, ;~n. real-time.
Advantageously, the present system provides the necessary
supporting tools and ~.nformation for an onii.ne applicatzor~
owner to manage an online application during its complete
lifecycle, including ;,ustom~_zation.r useF distribution, accessA
and control.
Brief Description of ="he Drawings
fhe present .invention will :be further understood. from the
following description of preferred embodiments with reference
to the drawings in wh:icha
Figure 1 is a representation of a Web page.
Figure 2 is diagram showing a Wen user using a Web
browser to access the Web page of Figure 2.
Figure 3 is a representation of an online app,_ication.
Figure 4 is a diagram showing a Web user using a Web
browser to access the online application of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a representation of user manua~- for managing
a managed online application.
Figure 6 is a representation of a packaged online
application comprising the managed appiicat:ion and the 'user
manual of Figure 5, and the bundling applicatior._.
Figure 7 is a diagram showing a packaged application
owner accessing the packaged application and a packaged
application user accessing the managed application.
Figure $ is a diagram showir:g a packaged application
owner and a packaged application user using access channels to
access the packaged application and the managed application.
Figure R is a representation: of Nome of the possib,~e
modules contained within the user manual.
Figure 1G is a representation of a personalization
module.
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Figure 11 is a representation of a st<xtisti.cs modulee
Figure I2 is a representation of an access channel tools
module.
Figure i3 is a representation of a licensing module.
Figure i4 is a representation of an authentication
module.
Similar reference numerals are used in different figures
to denote similar components.
~0 Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
Referring to Figures 1 and ~, a Web page 7.00 is a single
page visual document retrievable on a. World ~v'idE= L~eb 202,
which is part of a global computer network (for example, the
Interned . Web page 100 is defined by computer instructions,
or code, rendered by a Web browser 207. such as Microsoft's
Internet Explorer~r~ or Netscape° s Navigator r'. I'he computer
cede may be HTMLf Javascr:~..ptlh', JPEG, GIF, Java~rF' Applets or the
like. A Web user 200 navigates on the World Wide Web 202
using browser 201 and accesses Web page 300 located on a Web
server 203. For each reauest made by Web user 200, Web
browser 201 sends an HTTP -regues~ to Web :server 203, which
returns one Web page 100.
Referring to F~_gure 3, an online app)_ication 300 is a
software program accessible via World Wide Web 202e Online
application 300 is composed of one or more leg~_cally
interlinked Web pages 100, which provide a. sper:ific function.
Online application 300 car.. be implemented using ser_ver--side
technologies such as Java''' Server (ages IJSP, Microsoft
Actme Servex Pages ;ASPi, Common Gateway Interface (CGI), and
others. Online app-yication 300 can range ~~rom a simple
content (or informa~ion? presentation to a highly
sophisticated, transactional,. session-based and interactive
program. A Web site may be considered an online application
300, Online application 300 usua~-ly includes the complete
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logic and data to perform a specific task, for excample e-
commerce (shopping cart;; discusswon forum, sports pool, etc,
Online application 300 may be developed in a generic manner so
that it car be used in multiple situaticns,
Referring to Figure ~, online application. .300 may be
located on an application server ~~00, which is a Web server
203 that supports server-side technologies. Online
application 300 is accessed by Web user 200 via World Wide Web
202, using Web browser 201.. Application server X100 serves both
Web pages 100 and online applications 300 and znay host one or
more online applications 300. Web user 200 accesses
individual Web pages 100, which are part of online
applications 300. Web pages 100 accessed by Web user 200 may
be from one or more online applications 300 located on one or
more application ser~oers 400.
Online applications 300 need to be managed (that is
personalized, monitored, upgraded, etc~j b;y their owners
during their life cycles. Referring to Figure 5, any online
application 300 that is managed in this way by its owner is
referred to as a managed application 500. Currently, the
management of managed application. 500 is conducted manually on
an individual case-by-case bas-s by the owner of the
application or by the host or service provider on behalf of
the owner, Managed application 500 may also be managed by the
owner through a special modification interface located and
maintained separately on the Web site of the host or service
provider.
Referring to Figure 6, management of managed application
500 in accordance with the present invention is accomplished
by integrally packaging or bundling Q user manual 501 with
managed application !500, User manual 501 is an online
application 300 that enables the online and real-time
management of managed application 500. User manual 501 is
integrally packaged or bundled with managed application 500
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using a packaging or bundling software application 601, thus
creating a packaged or bundled application 600. Packaging
software application 601 may be an online application.
Packaged application 600 includes managed application 500, its
associated online use=r mam.:al 501P and packaging or bundling
application 601, to result in a complete, integrally packaged
or bundled online product. Packaged application 600 includes'
in a single package, all of the supporting 'uoo,~s required to
enable the useP personalization, wanagement~ control and
.0 distribution of managed application 500.
Referring to Figure ~, a. packaged appl.icati.on owner 700
is a Web user 200 who owns packaged application 600. Owner
700 may be the developer and creator of managed application
500 but more likely is someone who has purchased the rights to
15 managed application 500 from a third party. Owner 700 has
owner access 702 to the complete packaged application 600,
including managed application 500, packaging application 601,
and user manual 501. A packaged ~applicatic>n user 701 is a Web
user 200 that is only allowed to access the managed
20 application 500 portion of packaged application 600. User 701
has :user access 70~, but has rvo access to mser manual 501, or
packaging application 603., and :has no application management
privileges. For each packaged application 600 there ca.n be
only one owner 700, ifJnLCrll may be arA individual or a company
25 comprised of many individuals. Packaged application 600 car.
have zero or more users 701. In some situat:ionsf owner 700 may
also be one of the ,.zsc-rs 701.
1'o access packaged application 600, comprising the
managed application 500, packaging application 601, and user
30 manual 501, owner '~00 types a uniform resource locator (URLj
intc the location bar of his or her Web browser 201. As shown
in Figure 8k owner 700 may also use owner access channels X00
to access packaged application 600. Users X01 may use either
a URi typed intc the location bar of Web browser 201 or user
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access channels 801 to access managed application 500. Access
channels 800, 801 use files,, favorites, Web pages and e-mails
to provide owner 700 and user 703. easy access to packaged
application 600 and managed application 500, respectively.
The 'role of user manual .501. is to provide all the
necessary tools and information tc packaged application owner
700 to permit the complete oniine~ real-time management of the
iifecycle of managed application 500. As shown in Figure 9,
user manual 501 includes user manua7_ modules 900, to provide
the necessary management functions. User manual modules 900
include a personalization module 901, a statistics module 902,
an access channel tools module 903, a licensing module 90~,
and an authentication management rnoduie 90~~. One skilled in
the art will appreciate that other modules 906 may also be
included as necessary for the re~anagement of managed
application 500.
Referring to Figure 10, personal~~zation module 901 allows
packaged application owner 700 to edit and update the
configuration parameters of managed application 50th to
configure managed application 500 with personal data .for a
particular application. For example, in an e-commerce
application such as a shopping cart, the owner can change and
update the various items available for sale and their prices.
Once personalized, managed app:!ication 500 can be ~a.sed by
users 701, accessing the latest version.
Referring to Figure 11, statistics module 902 includes a
user statistics module that records and displays information
on how managed application. 500 is used by users 701. For
example, number of hits, time of access, location of user,
00 oype of browser used, etc. Statistics module 902 may also
include an owner statistics module to record statistics on how
packaged application 600, including user manual 501 and
packaging application 601, is used by owner 700, particularly
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if t~is role is being assumed by severa'~ di_tfere~nt .individuals
withirA a company.
Referring to Figures 8 and 1.2, access channel tools
module 903 includes a user access channel tools module, which
provides all the Coals necessary to set up user access
channels 801 for easy access to managed application 500. The
user access channel tools module r~s used to set up the
corresponding user access channels (for example, files,
favorites, Web. page, or email) with the necessary information
~0 to access managed application 500 when user 701 reduests
access. Access channel tools module 903 may also include an
owner access channel tools module to set up owner access
channels 800 for accessing packaged application 600 by owner
700.
15 Referring to rigure 13, licensing module 904 sets and
manages the terms of use of packaged application 600,
including managed application 500, user manual 501, and
packaging application 601. Packaged application 600 can be
offered as a service by a third p<~rty, such as a service
20 provider, Licensing module 90~ is a service' agreement between
this third party and packaged application. owner '300,
Only owner 700 is allowed to have access to the complete
packaged application 600, inc,~~ading managed application 500y
its associated user manual 501, .and packagi.na- application 601,.
25 ~~eferring to Figure 19, authentication management module 905
configures the owner access tc packaged application 600. This
access may be protected by one or more usernames ar~d
passwords. Authentication. management module 905 may also be
used to control access to managed applicat~.can 500 by users
30 701"
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that
other user manual modules 900 may be developed and included
with user manual 501 as and when the need arises to provide
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additional supporting' tools to owner 7p0 for thE: management of
managed application ~~0"
The invention may be embodied in othe~=~ specific forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be
cansidered as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of
the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather
than by the foregoing description, and all changes that come
within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are
~0 therefore intended to be embraced therein.
~c
